andrew dodson

A few random blogging topics on my mind today:

• Congrats to Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken, Jr. on getting inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  It couldn’t have been any more deserving for two class acts.  Gwynn is arguably one of the greatest hitters to play the game, and who can question Ripken’s ironman streak of consecutive games played – not only the streak, but to put up some great offensive numbers day in and day out.  I only caught highlights of their induction speeches, but it only made me respect them more.  They are two reasons why I grew up loving the game of baseball.
• I find myself actually looking forward to UK football this year.  I think they’re going to have a very good season (having eight home games helps).  Woodson, Little and Burton should be fun to watch on offense.
• I started reading Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus yesterday.  Time will tell if I’ll get halfway through it and stop reading (what usually happens), or if I’ll actually make it through it.  I am taking notes while reading, so I should be able to post a pretty good review when/if I finish.  The main point so far seems to be seizing “divine” moments every day.  Every moment of our life is a gift from God to do good.
• I’m looking into the possibility of getting a new vehicle.  My CRV is still in good shape, but needs some work, and I’m not sure I want to spend much money on it.  Top choices as of now are:  Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota RAV4, or Toyota Corolla.  As I blogged about my budgeting the other day, I’d really rather do nothing altogether.  But, at some point, I’m either going to have to fix up the CRV (and keep fixing it up over the next few years) or dive into a car payment.  Suzuki is offering some good deals right now and they have a very good warranty, so that’s the direction I’m leaning.

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One of my favorite artists – Charlie Hunter – is putting out a new CD tomorrow. Musically, he plays the style I love – a little jazz, rock and funk all mixed together. What makes him special is the fact that he plays an 8-string guitar. Basically, he’s a bass and electric guitar player all wrapped up in one. I’ve been lucky enough to see him live twice, and it’s quite amazing to watch him play so effortlessly. I’m going to attempt to post a YouTube video of him….

All I can say is…

Playstation 2 + S-video adapter to my sorta new TV (27″ Olevia flat panel) = Great hinderance to a productive weekend

I didn’t have a whole lot that I absolutely had to do this weekend, so that was good.  And, it was nice to relax and play video games for a change.  But, man… they’re addicting!  Games of choice this weekend:

• MVP Baseball 2005 – won the World Series with the Reds in Dynasty Mode after coming back from four games out with two weeks to go in the season.  Faced elimination twice in the playoffs only to come back and win.  Re-signed all of my key players and looking forward to another great season.
• Tiger Woods 2005 – created a version of myself in the game, but I didn’t have enough money to buy attributes to make me good.  Mainly played skills competitions to win money to buy more attributes.  Fun game, nonetheless – great graphics.
• NCAA Football 2006 – beat Louisville 70-2 and Murray State 63-7 with Kentucky on Varsity mode.  Looking to play a Notre Dame or Ohio State to step up the competition a bit.
• NASCAR 2005 – Played as Jeff Gordon.  Couldn’t keep the car straight and had absolutely no speed or acceleration to pass, so I resorted to wrecking people on purpose.  That made it a little more fun.  Especially seeing Jimmy Johnson’s car on fire 

As you can see, I’m a big sports game fan (not a huge surprise).  Particularly, EA Sports games.  You can also see that I stay behind the curve on game systems.  I really only like Playstation – mostly because it’s the only system with a controller that I understand.  If I’ve gotta think about which of the fifty buttons to press, that takes the fun out of it.  I didn’t get a Playstation 2 until this past Christmas.  Since I don’t play too often, I don’t feel a need to have the latest and greatest.  Plus, with an EB Games in town, I can go buy used games for cheap.  On my wishlist is Fight Night (EA Sports’ boxing game). 

I hope someone out there had a more productive weekend than me.

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  I’ve worked a lot at CLS this week, which hasn’t left much time for anything else.  I’ve been working about ten hours per day, going to the gym in the evenings, practicing drums and by that point, I’m pretty worn out, so I usually crash in front of the TV for the rest of the evening.

I’m not complaining about the ten hours per day this week.  Actually, I’m excited about it (yes, I know it’s odd to hear someone actually happy about working ten hours per day for four days straight… I actually enjoy my job).  CLS is in the process of getting a couple of internet ideas off the ground.  We now have a website called the CLS General Store that will be selling apparel to businesses online.  We already do this with a local bank and it has been successful, so we’re in the process of adding some more business customers.  The General Store also has retail apparel for all local schools.

The second idea is going to be a little more fun.  We’re launching an online t-shirt store that will allow people to submit their own designs.  There’s several online sites that already do this, but ours will be a little different in that we will also have Christian t-shirts, Frankfort t-shirts, Kentucky t-shirts and more.  We’re still working through some details, but the basic framework of the site should be up-and-running in the next few days.

In other news…

I’ve been working hard on my budget lately.  For the last several months, I haven’t been good about managing money at all.  Dave Ramsey says that if you don’t manage your money, your money will manage you.  It’s quite true.  If you don’t tell your money where to go, it’s funny how it just disappears on its own.  As an example, I paid off my car at the end of last year and planned on saving for my next vehicle to be able to buy it straight out.  As of today, I have $0 saved for my next vehicle.  Aside from filling out a monthly budget, I’ve also been trying to plan long-term.  I’ve set up a few savings goals and goals to pay off debts.  I’m hoping that by year’s end, I’ll be in pretty good shape.

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I just finished my thirty days of 2 Thessalonians.  Of course, it’s shorter than the first letter, so it was easier and quicker to read, but I didn’t read it every day of the thirty days.  Is it bad to say that I wasn’t getting much out of it?  I got a lot out of the first letter, but this one wasn’t doing much for me.  Maybe at another point of my life, God will reveal some deeper truths and application from the second letter.

Next up, I’m moving on to Titus.  While trying to decide what to read next, I skimmed over Titus and saw some things that will be good for me at this point in time.  So, I’ll be posting some stuff over the next thirty days with some insight on what I’m learning.

This is way cool. I haven’t played it in a long time, but I’m a fan of SimCity. I’ve yet to play SimCity 4, but I always enjoyed SimCity 3000. Particularly, the music. I always thought it’d be cool to hear all of the music apart from the game itself. I just so happened to Google “sim city music” tonight and found out that you can download the soundtracks to SimCity 3000 and SimCity 4: Rush Hour through the game’s website. Don’t think “cheesy video game music.” Anymore, as much effort goes into making a video game soundtrack as does a soundtrack for a movie. This is good stuff.

> SimCity music downloads

[UPDATE:  Apparently, I'm behind the times on this stuff.  Go here to download all kinds of video game soundtracks.  Not sure which ones you like?  Go here to see top rated soundtracks and more info.] 

Two hundred people got trapped in the St. Louis Arch yesterday.  Some were in trams, and others were at the top.  If this ever happened to me, I’d hope to be stuck at the top.  I visited the Arch a few years ago, and it has an amazing view of St. Louis.  Getting to the top and coming down weren’t as exciting.  I’m not sure if the “trams” are still the same, but at that time, they crammed four people into a tiny, egg-shaped elevator that took you to and from the top.  Getting stuck in one of those could be quite nerve-racking.

I’ve been meaning to point people – particularly, baseball fans – to Curt Schilling’s blog, 38 Pitches. It’s interesting to read about each of his pitching performances directly from him – how he handled each batter, which pitch to throw in which situation, etc. Of particular note is his detailing of his recent game against Oakland in which he almost threw a no-hitter.

Marc – I know you’re a Yankee fan, so it may be a little like me going to a Louisville Cardinals blog, but since you’re a baseball fan, check it out!

Today’s post isn’t about a mode of transportation. It’s about the band, Train (wikipedia link, official site). They’re not a flashy band, but they write really good songs. Really good lyrics with good music. Once again, nothing flashy. To date, they’ve released five albums:

• Train
• Drops of Jupiter
• My Private Nation
• For Me, It’s You
• Alive at Last (live)

If I were to suggested a recommended song list, it would be this:

• Meet Virginia
• Free
• Drops of Jupiter
• She’s on Fire
• Something More
• I’m About to Come Alive
• When I Look to the Sky
• Calling All Angels
• Ordinary

They have many more very good songs, but that would get you started. You can also find out more about them on their MySpace page.

I went to my first Louisville Bats baseball game last night with Heather (it was also her first Bats game).  I neglected to take my camera, so I was stuck with using my phone’s camera, so this blurry shot is all you get.  I liked the stadium, and I will likely go back soon.  Tickets are around $10 for an average seat.  I’m sure around home plate they’re a little more, but the prices aren’t too bad.  I think I like going to Legends games a little better, but I still enjoyed last night.

The Bats played the Durham Bulls and lost 4-2.  It was neat getting to see a lot of the young guys that have played for the Reds.  Elizardo Ramirez was the starting pitcher (was in the Reds’ rotation for part of the past couple of seasons), Brian Shackelford came on in relief.  Mark Bellhorn played DH (hasn’t had much playing time with the Reds, but is a Major League veteran).

Unfortunately, it seems we went one night too early.  Tonight is $1 hot dog and $1 Pepsi night, and top Reds prospect Homer Bailey is starting on the mound for the Bats.